What a Tangled Web We Weave
by RevSue
Summary: Starting with a little lie, Wilkes finds he has embroiled Nanny in something much, much, much more!
1. Chapter 1

"_Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive ..."_ Scottish novelist, Sir Walter Scott

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters since the Eloise movies and the characters are the property of Disney and Kay Thompson. I make no money from this work of fiction!_

"JOINING us?" Wilkes abruptly sat down, the telephone receiver glued to his ear. "My, er ... wife?" Suddenly his hastily-spoken words from almost a year ago were coming back to haunt him. "Oh yes, yes ... immensely happy, thank you," Wilkes knew his voice was weak, but he felt as if he had just been hit by a bolt of lightning. "Yes, we will be there. Certainly! That is, I will see if ... yes, that's right. Her name IS Nanny ... Yes. Ta ta."

He dropped the receiver back onto the cradle and put his head in his hands. NOW what? He should have been past the age where his imagination and mouth got him into such predicaments, but it seemed that he was in deep trouble right now! At the time, it had been an innocuous comment. He had been feeling the pressure of being the only person in the room to NOT have a family, and had blurted out that, as a matter of fact, he WAS married. And now, thanks to his misbegotten pride and bravado, he had to produce a wife by three o'clock this afternoon. A wife whose name, to be specific, was Nanny. He groaned audibly, thinking of the woman upon whom he had based his imaginary wife when speaking to the president of the children's charity he had so generously supported ten months ago.

Nanny was ... well, Nanny was incredible. Not only voluptuous, a fact which had caught his attention immediately, but she was also outgoing, adventurous, and very quick. She had to be, to keep up with that remarkable child, Eloise. He was sure that Nanny's wonderful ability to embrace the best of life served not only herself but Eloise as well. In fact, should HE be in continual contact with her, her personality could only rub off on him in a good way. After all, he himself was the exact opposite to Nanny, being shy, serious and boring. He found himself dreaming more and more of being in continual contact with her, in spite of fearing that it was a fool's dream. He sighed and murmured under his breath, "You're much too old for romance!" even while knowing that that wasn't true, just by the way he felt whenever he saw Nanny. Whether she knew it or not, she had changed his life.

The very flattering way Nanny had of looking at him adoringly, mostly when he wasn't looking directly at her, had altered how he thought of himself, not to mention the surprise kiss she had given him under the Christmas tree a couple of weeks ago. He had gained a lot of self-confidence thanks to her. But his task today was going to require all of that confidence and then some ... and he had no one to blame but himself. He sighed again, then set about getting ready to go to Nanny's suite ... to beg her aid in this tangled web of deceit he had so foolishly begun to weave.

O o O o O o

Nanny went to shut the door that Eloise had again left open after Bill's departure, and gasped as she dodged behind it upon seeing Sir Wilkes striding down the hallway towards her. He paused, reddened slightly, and lifted his hat. "Nanny."

Nanny put her hand to her heart and felt it beat in time to the unspoken words_ He spoke, spoke, SPOKE to me, for Lord's sake! _"Sir Wilkes!" she almost squeaked after swallowing hard. The way he walked down the hall and invariably greeted her still overwhelmed her, even after four years, and always made her feel younger and ... more girlish. She wanted to bat her eyelashes and giggle, although she never did either as a rule! She knew she didn't feel that way just because Sir Wilkes was a very dapper man and she had spent many an delightful hour imagining the body beneath his three-piece suit. No, it wasn't just his looks which drew her to him. Rawther, it was his confidence, his breeding, his very being. She acknowledged the gulf between them without rancour, but knowing about that gulf had not stopped her from looking and dreaming. Suddenly she realized that, instead of walking on past as he usually did, Sir Wilkes was standing before her, hat in hand, and a sheepish look on his face. "Sir Wilkes?" she managed to say again, aware that he obviously was going to say something more than 'good morning'.

"Nanny, I was hoping to see you this morning. Might I have a word with you?" He looked around as the elevator bell dinged, then back at Nanny and added, flushing slightly, "Inside, if possible?"

"Aowww, for sure, sure, sure!" She stepped back to let him in, wondering if she was still asleep and dreaming.

Eloise looked up from the table where she was eating her breakfast. "Good morning, Sir Wilkes!" she said cheerfully.

"Err, good morning, Eloise," he managed. Then he turned back to Nanny, still not quite certain how to explain his predicament. "Nanny, I must confess to having made a terrible blunder. T-that is to say, could I ask you to ...? Well, what I mean is ..." His voice trailed away and he looked quite miserable.

"Just say it, Sir Wilkes," Eloise said cheerfully in the background. "I always say what's in my head!"

"Yes, yes ... quite." He took out his handkerchief and wiped his forehead.

Nanny bit her lip, feeling sympathy for him rising sharply. The poor man! Whatever could be wrong? "Please, sit down, Sir Wilkes." She put her hand on his arm daringly, urging him to be seated on the sofa, then settled beside him, since he had gripped her hand as if it were a lifeline. "Now then, what, what, WHAT is the matter?"

"Nanny, after the Debutante Ball last year ..." he began, then paused again, dropping his hat on the sofa beside him and taking both of her hands in his.

"Yes?" she prompted.

"I was at an annual charity affair, and, well, the charity ball is coming up in a few days, and ..."

"And you want Nanny to go with you?" Eloise was listening avidly, and she skipped over to stand beside the two on the sofa. "Is THAT it?"

"Yes. No!" He wiped his forehead again, then resumed his hold on Nanny's hands.

"Eloise, go, go, go and finish your porridge!" Nanny frowned at the child, but her fingers trembled slightly in Sir Wilkes' grasp. He couldn't be asking her to ... to attend a ball with him ... could he?

Pouting, Eloise returned to her chair, then, as she started to pick up the spoon again, she said, "Did you know, Sir Wilkes, that you have to eat porridge or you'll shrivel and dry up?"

Looking somewhat askance, Sir Wilkes eyed her for a moment, then seemed to gather his courage, leaned towards Nanny, and spoke rapidly in a low voice. "Actually, Nanny, at the charity affair last year, well, it's a children's charity, you see. Family oriented. It appeared that I was the only one not to have my own family. So I, well, in short, I INVENTED one. A family. A wife. A, a grandchild. Perhaps it was a foolish thing to do, but I wasn't thinking it could harm anyone."

Nanny was puzzled. Was he asking her if she thought him reprehensible because he had lied? She said nothing, her blue eyes fixed on his brown ones as she waited for him to continue.

"Then today ..." Sir Wilkes swallowed, looking tortured. "I received a telephone call inviting me to tea downstairs in the Terrace Room. Today! With the, er, president of the charity and his wife. They invited me and my ... my wife." Nanny was stunned by this turn of events, and couldn't speak. Sir Wilkes continued rapidly, "So would you consider coming to tea today with me ... as my wife?"

Nanny sucked in her breath, her eyes wide with shock. Eloise jumped up again. "Yes!" she crowed. "You absolutely HAVE to go, Nanny! It's what you ..."

"Eloise!" Nanny spoke sharply, stopping the little girl from blurting out something that could prove to be quite, quite, quite embarrassing. She pulled her hands from Sir Wilkes' and knotted them in her lap, looking down at them for a long moment before looking up at him. "You want me to pretend to be your WIFE, for Lord's sake?"

"Just for tea. Today," he offered lamely.

Again there was a silence. Nanny was rawther surprised at herself that she did not feel more ... flattered. "Why me?" she asked at last, studying him intently.

His face went bright red and he looked away. Then he slowly confessed, "You are the one I told them I was married to. I told them my wife's name was Nanny ... that you looked after our grand-daughter, Eloise, and that was why you weren't with me that night, since your daughter Kay was out of town. I ... I imagined that YOU were my wife ... and told them about you. They want to meet YOU, Nanny."

Nanny was floored. He had imagined that SHE was his wife? Oh my Lord, she must surely be having the most vivid dream of her life!

"Can I come with Nanny, Sir Wilkes?" Eloise was standing beside them, a pleading look on her face. "I could call you Grandpa! Please, Sir Wilkes? Can I come too? I'll be ever so good! I absolutely LOVE tea in the Terrace Room! Please let me, Eloise, be your grand-daughter for this afternoon!"

Looking a little desperate, Sir Wilkes nodded. "Yes, Eloise. If Nanny will come as my wife, you may certainly come as my grand-daughter! Nanny? Would you consider it?"

Nanny looked undecided. "I'm not very good at playacting."

"Nanny, we ARE talking about just tea! I mean, an ordinary tea ... my treat ... today ..." Sir Wilkes pleaded.

"You know the old, old, old saying, the ordinary is only two syllables away from the EXTRA-ordinary," she mumbled.

"Nanny, there's no one I'd rather marry than you!" He seized her hands again. "Please? Please say yes."

Eloise laughed. "That sounds like you're REALLY asking her to marry you, Sir Wilkes!"

"Oh, Eloise ..." Nanny frowned at her when Sir Wilkes flushed and quickly released her. Nanny's glance fell on the book she was reading, and she remembered Mark Twain's words: _Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. Sail away from the safe harbor. Explore. Dream. Discover._ Sail away from the safe harbour? She probably WOULD be disappointed even tomorrow if she did not go with Sir Wilkes today, pretending to be ... his WIFE! The notion still was almost too incredible to believe. She took a deep breath and looked again at the man she had admired for years. "Well, I really shouldn't agree, but ... yes, Sir Wilkes. We will come to tea with you this afternoon and pretend to be your family, for sure, sure, sure."

Very much relieved, his face wreathed in smiles, Sir Wilkes took his leave, saying he would be back promptly at two forty-five that afternoon. After he was gone, Nanny closed the door and leaned against it ... hard. It was a solid reality at her back in what seemed like a world turned upside down. He had asked her ... HER, Nanny! ... to pretend to be ... his WIFE! She sank back down on the sofa dazedly. Well, she had taken Mark Twain's advice and thrown off her bowlines in order to sail away from her safe harbor THIS time! My stars, stars, stars! Pretending to be married ... to Sir Wilkes! Oh, my Lord, was she really awake? She hadn't even had one cup of rawther hot coffee yet, for Lord's sake!

O o O o O o

By tea time, Nanny and Eloise were finally ready. Eloise wore the adored pink dress her mother had sent her from Paris just in time for the Debutante Ball last spring, since she had almost grown out of it. The child had convinced Nanny to wear the new outfit Kay had given her for Christmas ... a simple blue silk blouse the colour of her eyes, a filmy paisley Hermès scarf in blues and grays, and a blue linen skirt to match. Nanny eyed herself in the mirror and admitted to herself that it was a very flattering outfit. She turned to make sure the seams of the stockings up the back of her legs were straight, and that the garters did not create unsightly protrusions on the skirt. The full body corset that was holding her in helped immensely, for sure, sure, sure! She was gratified to see the flare of admiration in Sir Wilkes' eyes when he arrived to pick them up.

"Err, I also remembered that you need a wedding ring ... THAT would have been quite a terrible blunder!" he stammered when he could speak again.

"Aoww, yes, quite ... quite." She shyly held up her hand. "I DID put on my mother's engagement ring ... it's a little tight, but ..."

"It's lovely. And I do believe it will match MY mother's wedding ring which I brought for you to try on." he dug in his pocket. "They are both white gold ..."

Nanny worked the diamond solitaire off her finger and held out her hand. Wilkes took her hand and slid the ring on ... then continued holding it in place while his eyes met hers. She felt her heart begin to pound, and she felt her hands grow damp. Oh, my sainted Aunt Fanny, he had placed a WEDDING ring on her finger! If ONLY this were the real thing! And oh my Lord ... the look in his eyes ...! At last she tore her gaze away and looked down. "It ... it's lovely. Perhaps a little large, but ... I'll put my ring back on and that should hold it in place. Are ... are you sure, sure, SURE you want me to wear it, Sir Wilkes?"

Still holding her hand, he said earnestly, "I am quite certain, Nanny. And Nanny ... please ... call me Wilkes ... or ... or even Willy ..."

"I'll try," she promised breathlessly.

"And I will remember to call you Grandpa!" Eloise nodded firmly.

Brought out of her fanciful dreams by the sound of Eloise's voice, Nanny pulled her hand from Sir Wilkes' and pushed the diamond ring back over her knuckle. She eyed the two rings, which did indeed match very well, with a sense of disbelief. She was pretending to be married ... and she had the rings ...

"Let's go, Nanny and Grandpa! I'll bet they're waiting to meet you ... and ME, Eloise!"

O o O o O o

Over an elegant tea in the Terrace Room, the Fitzgeralds were really impressed with Nanny, whose initial timidity rapidly wore off shortly after being introduced to Felice and Patrick Fitzgerald. Not generally shy except when it came to Sir Wilkes, Nanny found herself speaking rawther eloquently about family, children and charities with the very open and friendly Mrs. Fitzgerald. Wilkes, as he had done at the ill-fated tea with Mrs. Daniels, merely sat and listened, nodding occasionally when he agreed with one of her points. Eloise was very well-behaved, too, although Nanny thought the child rawther overdid the number of times she called Sir Wilkes 'Grandpa'! At any rate, when it came time for the Fitzgeralds to leave, they reiterated their invitation to the charity ball when speaking to Wilkes and told him to be SURE to come and bring his lovely wife.

"I am pleased to get the invitation," Nanny smiled, "but while Kay is in Paris, I, er, WE are responsible for Eloise. If it is at all possible, however, I would be delighted to come."

Mrs. Fitzgerald impulsively hugged her. "I'm so glad! We'll see you then, Lady Nanny!"

Nanny almost lost her composure when she was given that title, but Sir Wilkes immediately took her hand and said earnestly, "I DO hope so!"

Mrs. Fitzgerald continued, "Oh, and I don't know if Wilkes has told you, Lady Nanny ..."

"Aoww, please call me Nanny!" Nanny interrupted desperately. She inwardly cringed hearing her own name in connection with 'Lady', knowing just how far from the truth it was.

"Thank you, Nanny ... and I am Felice and my husband is Patrick. Anyway, as I was saying, when Wilkes purchased the tickets for this gala, he also reserved a suite in the Waldorf=Astoria for the night. You know you CAN get into the rooms beforehand and dress there, if you wish."

"I don't know if that will be nece..." Nanny began, a flare of panic suddenly rushing through her. A suite? For the NIGHT? With SIR WILKES? Oh, my LORD!

"And we'll expect to see you for breakfast the next day, is that all right? Wilkes has been of such help in the planning of these events and in supporting our charity ... and it would give us time for more visiting. If we lived in New York, it really WOULD be much easier!" Patrick added.

"I was so pleased to hear that Wilkes married!" Felice bubbled. "Some men seem rather ... incomplete ... without a wife, don't they? I always thought, before you two got married, that there was a poor woman somewhere who was missing out on a very special man! Wilkes IS special, isn't he?"

Nanny smiled crookedly. "I always thought so," she commented, relieved to finally be able to tell the truth.

Eloise piped up, "She ALWAYS was red in the face and breathing funny when he walked by, but she wouldn't tell him she liked him! I ALWAYS say what's in my head!"

Nanny flushed miserably when Sir Wilkes' eyes widened at this news. Felice grinned and said to the child, "It's a very good thing they managed to get together, then! Were you a bit of a matchmaker in their romance, Eloise?"

"I absolutely LOVE to fix things!" Eloise confided. "So I did what I could ..."

"Honestly, Eloise, that's quite enough. Mrs. Fitzgerald doesn't need to hear all the details." Nanny rolled her eyes.

Felice laughed, and said, "Oh, but they're wonderful to hear! I was dying to ask you. Maybe when we're alone sometime you'll indulge me and tell me the story. I must confess that I am an incurable romantic, and love hearing how my favourite people got together and found love! Wilkes has been one of my favourite men for a while, and now that I've finally met you, I can see why he fell in love with you and married you so quickly."

"It was sudden, that's for sure, sure, sure," Nanny mumbled. "One minute I wasn't married to him, and the next, I was!"

Wilkes coughed a little, and Patrick smiled sympathetically at him. "I don't know about you," he said, "but my wife talks like this ALL the time."

Nanny spoke up quickly and rawther desperately. "Perhaps we should go now, S ... Wilkes."

"Yes, perhaps we should," he agreed quickly.

"It was lovely meeting you, Nanny ... and if we don't get a chance to have a good heart-to-heart talk at the ball, we'll have one the next morning at breakfast. Ta ta, Wilkes. Thank you for bringing your charming wife and delightful grand-daughter."

When the three finally managed to get away from the Fitzgeralds, they were quiet as they walked through the lobby. Once in the elevator on their way back up to the sixteenth floor, Eloise demanded, "Why can't *I* come to the ball? Mrs. Fitzgerald thought I was charming, even if she DID think I was saying 'granny' instead of Nanny! But I like balls, too!"

"This one is just for adults, pet," Nanny said absently. "And I'm not at all sure I will be going, after all."

"Perhaps you could find someone willing to stay with Eloise for the night ... er, or even just the evening?" Wilkes suggested. Although not one for much pomp and circumstance and dancing, he was feeling a strong urge to hold Nanny in his arms again. He looked at her admiringly. She had been WONDERFUL this afternoon, and had more than covered for his deceit!

Nanny stared at him. He absolutely could NOT be serious, for Lord's sake! "You DID say you only wanted me to be your wife today ... for tea!" she reminded him.

For a moment Wilkes was downcast, then he offered timidly, "I ... I was just trying to make it sound less ... formidable, in the hopes that I could tempt you to agree. I ... I'm afraid I wasn't listening to what was in your heart."

"My ... my heart?" Nanny heart's was thumping crazily in her chest suddenly.

"YOU know, Nanny," Eloise broke in. "It's what you're always telling me when I say what's on my mind. You say it's not enough to just follow your OWN heart, but you have to listen to what's in other people's hearts!"

"Yes, you ... you said that at our tea ... with Mrs. Daniels ... last spring. I've never forgotten it." Wilkes admitted.

Nanny could find nothing to say in return to that. Upon their arrival at their suite, Nanny sent Eloise in to change her dress. Then she turned to Wilkes, aware that he was hovering somewhat awkwardly by her side, an undecided expression on his face. Should he leave? Should he stay a little longer and attempt to convince her to join him at the ball? Neither really wanted the afternoon to end, but nor could either of them come up with a good reason to have it continue.

Finally Nanny murmured, "Would you care to come in?"

"Oh, yes, yes ... thank you!"

The two perched on the edge of the sofa, not looking at each other. Nanny fiddled absently with her scarf, and Sir Wilkes commented after a few moments, "Felice liked your scarf, didn't she?"

Nanny dropped it and put her hands together politely. "Yes, she did, for sure, sure, sure."

A naughty streak of mischief had Sir Wilkes leaning forward with a faintly wicked grin and saying in an undertone, "So did Patrick! He and Felice are, it seems, rather ... adventurous. You should have heard the suggestions he had for how we could use the scarf to facilitate our, er ... marital relations."

"Sir WILKES!" Nanny stared at him, shocked, and he looked away abashed.

Then Eloise came dancing out of the bedroom dressed in her usual black skirt and white blouse. "I have to go do my rounds!" she announced. "But thank you again for tea, Sir Wilkes! I absolutely loved it ... GRANDPA!" She slammed the door as she left, and Nanny winced.

Wilkes hesitated for a second, then said, "Did you really ... that is, when Eloise said you liked me ... well, I know she wrote that invitation to you for tea last spring and signed my name to it, but I hadn't realized ..."

"Aoww, it's nothing, really," Nanny spoke a little desperately. "And you know Eloise ..."

"Yes, of course."

Quiet descended again. Then, when Nanny started fiddling with her scarf again and the silence began to stretch longer, Wilkes suddenly leaned forward and put his hands over hers to still them. "Nanny," he said softly, "thank you for this afternoon. You made a big impression on the Fitzgeralds ... and an even bigger one on me. You are amazing!" For a second his words hung in the air, and he realized he couldn't cover them up. He couldn't pretend to have meant something else. He was forced to be honest, by his own loose tongue. Then he realized he didn't care in the least. "You really are," he finished in a low voice.

"Thank you," she whispered. Her gaze met his and held. Neither could pretend this moment wasn't happening ... because both WANTED it to happen. "I'm not making this up, am I? This ... feeling?" she asked at last, wondering if she was losing her mind. She moistened her lips nervously with her tongue.

Wilkes smiled at her blunt honesty. How refreshing! "No," he murmured. "Oh no, Nan. This feeling is real."

He didn't flinch when she tugged one hand away to touch his face, his cheek, his ear. And in the end, she really didn't know who kissed whom first. They both leaned forward and came to rest against each other. Her lips were strong and sweet, like the rest of her and he turned his head, angling for more. It seemed her body knew what to do, even if her mind wasn't working. Her fingers brushed his hair, his neck, and the curve of his ear. He groaned faintly, then daringly slid his hands up her rib cage to stop just under her breasts. She leaned against him, soft and warm in all the best places, longing for his hands to move up just a bit to relieve the ache, for Lord's sake!

While he had certainly never forgotten how good it felt to kiss a woman, he had never dreamed how wonderful it would feel to kiss Nanny! And none of the kisses he had ever given or received in his entire life had affected him the way he now felt while kissing Nanny. He wanted to whisk her away, lock the two of him in his room and spend the next several days kissing her ... and more.

At that point Wilkes completely lost his head. No longer was this just a pleasant dalliance. It was far more serious for BOTH of them than that! Nanny was much too giving for her own good. He couldn't, or SHOULDN'T, keep kissing her, but Nanny was so ... Nanny ... and she swept him away. He loved how she poured out sensuality and emotion, responding to his kisses as if she loved the taste and the feel of him, as if she craved how he made her feel. She told him that with every kiss, every touch, every volatile response. She kissed him back as if he made HER feel swept away. Tension escalated like an out-of-control fire which was too hot, too wild and too dangerous to go near. Yet all he could do was take more of her, love more of her, ask more of her ... and need more of her.

And then the doorbell rang; the buzz long and insistent. Eloise was back.

O o O o O o

The next day, a very apologetic Sir Wilkes knocked on the door. Nanny answered, and blushed when she saw him standing there.

"I behaved abominably yesterday afternoon, Nanny," Wilkes began, and Nanny gazed at him, not commenting one way or the other. He continued doggedly, "I made a dreadful blunder, and not only for dragging you and Eloise into my deceit ... I'm terribly sorry. And I really must apologize for my actions afterwards. It was unforgivable and had we been caught ..." he stopped. The hurt welling in her eyes made him feel lower than a snake's belly. Then she looked down without saying anything. Wilkes cringed. It was no doubt for the best to ignore the entire episode. He would never forget it, of course ... it had been much too delightful for THAT ... but he should ignore it.

Eloise came bursting into the room, and for once both of them were very glad for the interruption. "Hi, Sir Wilkes! I talked to Maman last night, because, of course, she phones me every day or else I'll miss her too, too, too much! She's coming home! Isn't that absolutely exciting? Tomorrow! So Nanny can go to the ball with you!"

Nanny's head rose sharply. "Oh, no, Eloise! That was rude, rude, rude! Sir Wilkes never ..."

His voice over-rode hers. "Yes, you MUST, Nanny! The Fitzgeralds specifically asked that you attend, don't you remember? And you agreed that you would if you could!"

Their session on the sofa had effectively wiped most of the afternoon tea meeting from Nanny's mind, but now she had to acknowledge that Sir Wilkes was indeed speaking the truth.

He spoke hurriedly. "Please, Nanny, please come with me. We, er, we don't HAVE to stay the night ... but it IS a suite, you know ... and we are to breakfast with the Fitzgeralds ..."

"Aoww, but ..." Nanny hesitated.

"Go on, Nanny," urged Eloise. "Maman will be here! You can go and enjoy yourself ... with your husband!" and she grinned.

Both Nanny and Sir Wilkes blushed at her words, but Nanny recovered more quickly. "Don't be silly, Eloise! Aoww, and Sir Wilkes, I really should, should, SHOULD give you back your ring ... what if I lost it?" She began to tug at her ring which was holding the other on, but he stopped her.

"No, no, Nanny, please. Keep it until we go to the ball ... and you WILL come, will you not?"

Her lips tightened. "Very well," she said at last. "I will go to the ball. But I don't want to hear one more word about what happened yesterday!"

"What happened yesterday?" Eloise asked. "Besides the tea, what happened?" The two adults locked eyes, and neither replied. With a sigh, Eloise said, "I absolutely hate being ignored."

Eloise did NOT hate shopping however, and the moment her mother arrived home the next day, Eloise insisted that they had to go shopping because Nanny needed a fancy new dress. Never one to delay when it came to shopping for clothes, Kay promptly took the two out ... and almost immediately found Nanny a dark blue ballgown which, although sleeveless and backless, had a matching lace bolero jacket to go with it. Nanny hesitated, wondering how it could possibly look as lovely on her as it did on the hanger.

Before Nanny nodded her agreement to try it on, Eloise urged her to get some really fancy lingerie to go with it ... 'something in pink lace!'

"Eloise, the dress is dark blue," her mother said, amused. "She needs BLUE lace, not PINK."

"And ribbons!" Eloise cried, as if her mother had not spoken. "Absolutely loads of ribbons and lace! And maybe even some little pink rosebuds! I absolutely love pink!"

Nanny ignored the colour question. "I can't wear my corset with THAT dress!" Nanny sounded almost panicky. "No, no, no ... this is much too ... elegant for me! Much, much, much! I'm altogether too, too, too plump!"

"Don't be silly, Nanny! The corset and brassiere are built in, but you need some fancy knickers ... perhaps a slimming girdle to hold up these nylons ..." and Kay held up a filmy pair of nylon stockings. "and you'll need some navy pumps, too. Your regular shoes will not do."

Although Nanny protested fiercely when the lacy, beribboned panties and girdle appeared, she was forced to try them on with the dress and shoes and model the entire outfit for Kay and Eloise ... her cheeks flushing while she tugged the jacket down in a vain effort to cover her rawther ample chest.

Eloise was almost speechless with delight. "Oh, Nanny," she beamed. "You look absolutely divine! When I grow up, I'm going to get something JUST like that, but in pink, of course, for ME, Eloise! Nanny, *I* think the dress and the lingerie make you look chic, chic, chic!" and Eloise swayed her hips suggestively.

Nanny privately agreed, but patted her botto and smiled. "It seems as though I've been increasing my botto for years, so it's not likely it'll vanish in a day... whether I wear a girdle or not! And I don't think I'll EVER look chic, chic, chic like that!" and she copied Eloise's moves with a chuckle.

"Maybe if you diet, you'll lose enough to not NEED the girdle." Eloise grinned.

"Hardly ... not in a day! And my mother always told me that girdles are essential garments which create the rigid, controlled figure that is eminently respectable and modest! But THIS girdle is much too fancy for the likes of me ... much, much, much!" Nanny thought of how she had looked just wearing the panties, girdle, sheer nylon stockings and fancy high-heeled shoes, and her face heated even more. "For Lord's sake, I looked like a dance hall girl without the dress! Scandalous!" she muttered.

"I trust no one will be seeing you without the dress, Nanny," Kay said dryly, and Nanny's face turned so red that Eloise patted her cheeks consolingly and brought her a glass of water to cool her down.

Eloise was the one to tell her mother that Nanny's 'date' with Sir Wilkes included the night in a suite and breakfast with the other couple the next morning, and although Nanny said they could just as easily come home, Kay urged her to take advantage of having the entire night off. "After all, I'm here to be with Eloise, and you haven't had two days off in a row for a LONG time! Please, Nanny, just stay as long as Sir Wilkes wants you to stay. And HAVE FUN!" Her eyes twinkled, and Nanny threw up her hands.

"My stars, stars, stars, Kay! You are telling me to go out and have fun, and the entire evening is based on a LIE!"

"Just a little white lie," Kay said. "It doesn't really hurt anyone, does it? I mean, does it matter to ANYone whether you and Sir Wilkes are actually married or not?"

Nanny couldn't come up with an answer to that question, although she vaguely felt that there WAS something quite a bit wrong with the whole scenario. And it DID matter to her, she acknowledged inwardly, with a sense of shame, because she was starting to dream about actually BEING his wife ... and wanting to experience all she could in this time of pretending.

"I think it's absolutely divine that you and Sir Wilkes have a GRAND-DAUGHTER ... and that's ME, Eloise!" grinned the little girl.

O o O o O o

When Sir Wilkes arrived to pick up Nanny for the ball, Kay let him in and said Nanny would be right out. Then Eloise came dancing out and confided excitedly to him that Nanny was absolutely beautiful, and it was too bad that he wouldn't get to see her new lingerie, because it was "très, très, très chic! Lots of lace and ribbons, you know!"

He blushed and his heart kicked up a beat when Nanny appeared just then, pulling on her gloves. She was indeed 'très chic' as far as he was concerned, and he hadn't even SEEN her new lingerie! Yet. That random thought almost made him choke, and a strong wave of desire washed over him. He wasn't close to forgetting the other afternoon when Nanny had been a willing, active participant in his embrace, and now he was attracted to her more than ever.

"I understand Nanny is helping you out of a bind, Sir Wilkes," Kay said with a smile. "I do hope you value her worth properly."

"Oh, I do ... most certainly I do!" he assured her fervently. "She is an angel indeed."

Then his eyes widened as Eloise added in a loud whisper, "And guess what, Sir Grandpa Wilkes? She's got her bag packed so she can spend the night with you!"

"Eloise, please," Nanny almost moaned. "I'm JUST spending the night at the other hotel ... it's not really the way you are making it sound!"

"Me? Making it sound? What are you talking about, Nanny?" Eloise looked puzzled.

"Never mind, for Lord's sake. Be good, pet. See you tomorrow." Nanny hugged the child.

"You be good, too, Nanny! Love you!"

"Here's your coat, Nanny ..." Wilkes held up the long white fur coat that Kay had handed over to him.

Nanny looked wildly at Kay, who winked and said, "You simply cannot wear your old blue coat, Nanny. Just borrow this. It'll fit."

"But ... but what if it gets lost, for Lord's sake?" Nanny stammered.

"It's only a coat," Kay shrugged. "And I'm getting a new one soon, anyway. Go on, or you'll be late!"

Nanny submitted to having Sir Wilkes place the coat over her shoulders, feeling more and more like Cinderella on her way to the ball. This was definitely NOT her! She wondered if she would find herself again once all of this deceit was over. She sincerely hoped so.

"Bye, Nanny! Bye, Grandpa Wilkes!" Eloise called out as they went out the doors and down the hall to the elevator.

O o O o O o


	2. Chapter 2

Crossing the foyer of the Plaza, Nanny kept her eyes down, certain that no one who knew her would recognize the elegant woman she had become, with her hair elaborately styled by Vincent earlier that afternoon, the fur coat ... and Sir Wilkes with his hand on the small of her back. Max had summoned Frederic, the bellhop, to carry their bags out to the waiting taxi. Landing safely and, she hoped, anonymously in the taxi, Nanny tried in vain to think of something to say to break the quiet which had fallen over them since leaving the sixteenth floor of the Plaza. It was impossible.

The drive to the Waldorf=Astoria was accomplished in silence until, just before they pulled up in front of the doors, Sir Wilkes touched her gloved hand lightly with his and said, "Nanny?"

"Hmmm?" For the first time that evening, she looked directly at him. Her heart melted. He was so ... so DEAR. "Yes, S ... Willy?" Then she cringed inwardly. She hadn't meant to call him WILLY again, for Lord's sake!

"I just want to thank you, ever so much, for agreeing to all this ... subterfuge. I really do appreciate it."

She smiled weakly. "Aowww ..."

He looked as if he wanted to say more, but the taxi stopped and the driver came around to open the door to assist Nanny out. Just before she stepped out, she leaned a bit closer to Wilkes and whispered with a hint of her natural buoyancy, "Show time!"

Grinning broadly, Wilkes escorted her up the steps and into the lobby of the luxury hotel. He went to the registration desk, where miraculously there was no lineup, got the key to the sixth floor suite and arranged for their bags to be taken up before they checked their coats and entered the already-full ballroom. Nanny looked around for the Fitzgeralds, and saw them on the dance floor. Felice waved, and Nanny smiled in response.

"Shall we dance, Nanny?" Sir Wilkes invited her.

"I'd love to ..."

They moved toward the cleared area in the centre of the room, Nanny holding her head high, aware of the many gazes that followed them. Then his hand was on her waist, his other hand holding hers, and they were dancing. Nanny could feel the warmth of his hand where it rested at her waist, each fingertip causing a vibrant tingling where it rested. The hand enclosed in his trembled slightly, and he tightened his grasp and drew her a little closer. Her skirts brushed his thighs and knees with disturbing intimacy; she felt surrounded by his heat and scent. His guidance in the movements of the dance was unerring, so they kept well away from the other dancers. His rhythm was measured perfection yet effortless, as if as natural to him as breathing, and yet Felice had thought him shy and ... and incomplete without a woman! Nanny had always seen him as completely in command, and needing no one, least of all a woman like her! Felice WAS right about one thing, however ... Wilkes was indeed someone special, at least as far as Nanny was concerned.

They danced a number of dances, then Wilkes relinquished Nanny to other men who wished to partner her. It didn't take long until Nanny was laughing and enjoying herself thoroughly. The drinks she had had pressed into her hand didn't hurt, either. Wilkes claimed her again after a particularly vigorous polka and they waltzed across the floor effortlessly. Suddenly their dance was interrupted when a woman accosted Wilkes. Nanny's eyes widened as she recognized Mrs. Daniels from the Debutante Ball the previous year. They stopped dancing and stood silently while Mrs. Daniels prattled on as she clutched Wilkes' arm, never even looking at the woman standing quietly beside him.

"Sir WILKES! I'm so GLAD to have run into you again! I was just writing a letter to Molly ... my daughter, you know ... after simply MONTHS of trying to decide which country she really wanted to visit first, because, of course, she speaks French so well, but Italy has always been the place to visit, and then there's ...."

After a short period of time when Nanny and Wilkes peeked occasionally at each other and tried not to smile or yawn in the other woman's face, Wilkes finally realized that Mrs. Daniels was not going to stop talking long enough for him to get a word in edgewise. He cleared his throat, and interrupted her mid-word. "I don't know if you remember Nanny?"

Mrs. Daniels looked startled. It was as if she had never even noticed Nanny's presence. "Nanny. REALLY? Oh, yes ... I do vaguely remember you. But Nanny can't possibly be your real name!"

Unwilling to say anything in case she was rawther rude, Nanny merely smiled politely at the other woman and didn't deign to answer. She then turned to Wilkes and said softly, "Perhaps I should go ..."

Mrs. Daniels waved her off airily. "Fuh, fuh, fuh, go ahead. I just wanted a few words with ..."

"Nan?" Wilkes ignored Mrs. Daniels for the moment, and clutched Nanny's arm. She looked at him, and recognized the faint desperation in his eyes.

"It's all right, darling," she said, patting his hand then easing his fingers off and forcing herself to smile. "You can find me just over there when you're done, for sure, sure, sure. Ta ta, love ..." and she nodded briefly at Mrs. Daniels who narrowed her eyes to study her.

"Ta ta ..." he repeated, a little bemused. Darling? LOVE?

"It's just terrible the way some people are so free with their endearments, isn't it?" Mrs. Daniels took his arm. "Now where were we, Sir Wilkes? Oh yes ... as I was saying, Molly decided that she really could NOT be away from the academic life for too long, so she is just taking this year ..."

Wilkes was only half listening as Mrs. Daniels droned on. Suddenly he saw that Nanny had approached the buffet table yet not taken much of anything before retreating to a rawther secluded alcove where he assumed she planned to watch the party and stay out of the way. Once again interrupting a by-now very annoyed Mrs. Daniels, he walked away from her, and went straight to Nanny.

"What's the matter, Nanny? Are you not feeling well?" He peered down at her plate, then into her eyes. "You didn't take ANYTHING to speak of!"

"Aoww, no, no, no, I'm fine, S- Wilkes. No, I just ... well ..." she averted her face and muttered, "I'm trying to lose weight."

He stared at her blankly. "Lose weight? WHY?"

She frowned slightly, then admitted deprecatingly, "I'm much too plump ... much, much, much!"

He shook his head in bewilderment. "Too plump?" he repeated incredulously. "Nan, you ... you're a vision of delicious feminine curves ... why, it seems that ever since I first saw you, I've thought of the paradise that would await any man who could sink into your warm softness ..." His words hung in the air, and he felt himself slowly turning very, very, very red.

Nanny blinked at him, flushed herself, her lips parted in astonishment. In the next moment, he took her plate from her unresisting fingers and deposited it with his own on a nearby table, then reached for her and without conscious thought, his mouth covered hers.

For a long, delicious moment, she returned his kiss whole-heartedly, but when he began to deepen it, pulling her closer and fitting her body to his, she broke away. "Oh my Lord, Sir Wilkes ..." She gently pushed him back a little and gave a nervous laugh. "Someone might see us ..."

"Right. Someone might. See us. Right." He swallowed and tried hard to catch his breath. But it was impossible with her so close and suddenly so irresistible.

Then they were kissing again, desperate this time for touch as they moved their hands over the other's body.

"Aoww, Willy ... stop ... please ..." she panted, turning her head away at last.

"Yes, quite..." His own breathing was rapid. He kissed her eyes and her cheeks. "Quite. We need to stop ..."

"Yes, yes, yes," she breathed regretfully, but sliding her hands up his back beneath his jacket and pressing closer to him in a very contradictory fashion.

"We're going to stop ..." Copying her actions, his fingers edged under her jacket to spread over her bare back.

Nanny caught her breath at his touch scorching her skin, exceedingly thankful she had worn this dress and obeyed Kay by not wearing her corset tonight. "Yessss ... aoww, no, no, no. One more ..." She brushed her lips over his again, quivering in his embrace and feeling as though she would soon explode with sheer ecstasy. She wanted his caresses to go on forever, for Lord's sake!

"Yes ... one more ..." He hadn't felt this way since he was a teenager! His kiss was long and lingering and she kissed him back as if no one were watching and, indeed, as if no one else existed in the entire universe but the two of them.

"This is crazy, love, for sure, sure, sure," Nanny murmured when she could breathe again. She rested her forehead on his cheek, feeling her heart thumping as his fingers continued caressing her back. Aoww, KNICKERS! She wanted to rub against him, and PURR, for Lord's sake!

"You make me feel crazy and make me want to continue feeling that way." He pushed her away slightly and very regretfully removed his hands from beneath the back of her lacy jacket, from the soft, sweet skin he had wanted to claim as his own. What had he been thinking? Well, he hadn't been thinking at all. That was the problem. They were in a public place, albeit in an out-of-the-way alcove, and this was NANNY ... a woman he liked very, very much ... and a woman he respected! He had no business kissing her! He had no rights at all, in fact, having inveigled her into this tangled web of deceit in the first place. He blinked the passion from his eyes and immediately saw the warmth drain from hers. "Nanny ..." he spoke hesitantly and apologetically, wondering if his ears had deceived him. Had she really called him 'love' again?

"The next words out of your mouth had better not be 'I'm sorry'." Her voice, while soft, was edged with steel.

She had read his mind, so he very wisely remained silent. He had thought he SHOULD apologize, but what he WANTED to do was ask her if they could just leave the dance and retreat upstairs to continue their ... relationship, for want of a better word, in private. He WANTED to keep kissing her! He WANTED to marry her and keep her at his side for the rest of his life!

"Excuse me for a moment, please," and Nanny escaped to the ladies' room.

Once there, Nanny ran the cold water and pressed cold, wet fingers to her burning cheeks and the back of her neck. Then the door opened and Felice Fitzgerald came in. "Nanny! Despite the late hour, you still look gorgeous! And from the looks of things, Wilkes agrees."

Nanny flushed again and smiled weakly.

"I see Leota Daniels is up to her old tricks again ... she dotes on men with titles, you know. Simply DOTES on them. No ... make that MEN, period. She dotes on MEN!" Felice continued, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, I ... I couldn't really say ..."

"Of course not ... you're too sweet ... and too new to this game ..." Felice patted her hand.

"Too ... new? GAME?"

"Certainly. High society, and all that. And NO ..." she added quickly, "by that I do NOT mean that you are not high society ... I mean that you seem, I don't know, sheltered, or something. Innocent." She laughed. "Even WITH a second husband!"

Nanny felt almost sick. Felice was so, so, so nice ... and she felt terrible for deceiving her like this! Saying nothing, she began to outline her lips with lipstick. Kissing Wilkes had taken it all away, for Lord's sake! Then the door opened and Mrs. Daniels swept in.

"THERE you are!" she said, drawing up abruptly and meeting Nanny's eyes in the mirror. "I wondered where you had run off to ... after that little exhibition outside. You know, it's really quite amusing, but Lord Fitzgerald seems to think that you and Wilkes are actually MARRIED!"

Staggered, Nanny couldn't respond. LORD Fitzgerald? Oh, knickers! Felice was a Lady! Then Mrs. Daniels' mouth fell open as she recognized Felice. For once she had nothing to say.

"Does that mean you don't believe my husband?" Felice inquired artlessly, fluffing up her hair as she stood beside Nanny.

"It most certainly does NOT!" Mrs. Daniels almost snapped, but restrained herself with some difficulty. "Are you presuming to twist my words around? I merely meant to ask NANNY ..."

"Lady Nanny ..." Felice murmured, earning herself a haughty glare from Mrs. Daniels.

"...if she was indeed married to Sir Wilkes." Mrs. Daniels sniffed. "And I should HOPE, after that ... disgusting display ... that ... that ..."

"Do you mean that wonderfully romantic clinch in the ballroom?" Felice grinned at Nanny in the mirror.

"If you care to call it that ..." Then Mrs. Daniels stopped, her eye caught by the flash of the diamond on Nanny's hand as she continued to apply her lipstick. "You really ARE married!"

"Hmmm," Nanny said nothing more.

"Tell me, Nanny ... IS Nanny really your name? I thought you WERE a Nanny. To that abominable child at the Plaza!"

"She is NOT abominable! Eloise is ..." Nanny was furious.

Again Felice broke in with a slight laugh. "You thought Eloise was abominable? She's adorable! I love the way she slipped once and called Wilkes 'Sir Grandpa Wilkes'! You should have seen his face." She crowded a little closer to Mrs. Daniels, fumbled for a moment, then stepped back.

Mrs. Daniels ignored her and concentrated on Nanny. "So tell me, what did you have to do in order to reel him in, darling?"

"Reel him in?" Nanny had recovered her poise and spoke calmly, continuing to renew her lipstick.

"Well, after all, you WERE just a nanny, weren't you? Hardly aristocratic material. I mean, he's a KNIGHT, and you're just a commoner. A nobody. So you must have done SOMETHING to excite and interest him ... and trap him in marriage. At YOUR age, it couldn't be a child ... could it?" and Mrs. Daniels insolently ran her eyes over Nanny's figure.

Felice sprang to her rescue immediately, but Nanny merely smiled, having suddenly realized that Felice had fastened a bit of Mrs. Daniels' flowing train to the elaborate scrolls on the front of the counter. She herself eased her foot forward and put it down heavily on another portion of the train and said, "Oh, I really am not one to NEED to trap a man, being quite content with my life. However, somehow Willy just kept showing up at my door. Oh, my stars, stars, stars, he WAS persistent ... and next thing I knew, we were married! You DO know how persistent men can be ... or ... don't you?"

"Well, I NEVER! Are you presuming to ...?" Mrs. Daniels began, swinging around.

There was a loud ripping sound. Nanny eased her foot back, meeting Felice's amused eyes in the mirror. With a gasp of outrage, Mrs. Daniels clapped her hands to her waist and tried to see how much had ripped.

"Oh, look, dear ... it was caught in the counter ... there's a tiny tear," and Felice pointed to the bit of the train that she had hooked on the counter. "Oh, and I think there are a few stitches out at the waistline ..." She surreptitiously waved Nanny out the door while she bent solicitously over Mrs. Daniel's dress.

Waiting only a moment, Nanny hurried out the door, and straight into Lord Patrick Fitzgerald's arms! "Oomph!" he grunted as her elbow connected with his chest.

"Aoww, Lord Fitzgerald! I am so, so, so sorry!" she stammered, aghast at her clumsiness.

"It's okay ..." he said hoarsely, then grinned and spoke in a natural voice, "I'm fine, Lady Nanny! Err, I believe your doting husband was searching for you a while ago." He winked and whispered, "Probably hoping to whisk you off to your rooms for some hanky-panky ... with your scarf! Did Felice ever tell you about the time we ...?"

As Nanny's eyes were widening in shock, she felt Wilkes' touch on her arm ... the tingling from his fingers went right through the lacy material. Wilkes broke into the other man's whispered story. "Now, now, now, Patrick! No need to shock my bride!"

"Just having a little fun. Have you seen Felice?"

"In ... in the ladies' room," Nanny managed to say.

"Just thinking about the scarf and hanky-panky and Felice ..." He rubbed his hands together gleefully.

"He has had a little too much to drink, I'm afraid," Wilkes murmured to Nanny. "And ..." he swayed slightly, "I do believe that perhaps I have had too much as well."

Nanny wondered if SHE had had a little too much, too. She knew she wasn't thinking clearly. When Felice emerged from the ladies' room just moments later and suggested that the four of them convene to a private room for some coffee and a discussion, Nanny knew she needed the coffee but was a little leery of the prospect of the discussion.

Wilkes, gazing at Nanny's faintly flushed face, thought she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life, and wondered only that no other man had swept her off her feet before this. She deserved so much more than this ... this lie which he had forced her to live with the Fitzgeralds. This morning he had resolved to make things right between them, although he had said nothing about his resolution to Nanny. Now was the time to confess everything, before the evening was over and he branded her a scarlet woman in everyone's eyes by taking her upstairs to his reserved suite and making love to her all night long. Of course, the latter option would be his first choice were it totally up to him! However, he thought too much of Nanny for that.

O o O o O o


	3. Chapter 3

When they found themselves seated in a quiet room at a table for four, Wilkes spoke hesitantly. "I, er ... I have something I would like to confess ..."

"So do I," Felice said quietly. "But you go ahead, Wilkes ..."

Taking a deep breath, Wilkes blurted out, "Last year, when I was asked when I was going to get married to lend credence to my interest in this charity, I very foolishly decided to just say that I WAS married ... yes, I lied. I really didn't think it would matter to anyone. So I pretended that I was married ... and never thought of that lie again until you phoned the other day."

"Sir Wilkes!" Nanny was horrified. Surely he wasn't confessing NOW that they weren't married! NOW? Oh my LORD!

"I'm sorry, but I just couldn't keep quiet any longer!" Wilkes hung his head. "I hated knowing that my one little lie kept growing and encompassing you and ... and Eloise ... and it wasn't fair to ANY of you. The lie was growing and growing into any number of lies ... well, I just HAD to confess! That night last year, I felt so foolish and so ... well, left out, in a way, not being married when everyone else WAS, and I thought it would be easy enough to say just one little lie ..."

Nanny couldn't look at the other two. She felt her face growing hot, hot, HOT! This must be absolutely the most embarrassing moment of her life! Then she heard a faint chuckle, and looked up to see Felice trying to hide a grin.

"So ... you made up Nanny?" Patrick asked slowly, raising his eyebrows. "A rather ... real ... figment of your imagination, wouldn't you say?"

Nanny frowned slightly. Neither he NOR Felice seemed particularly surprised. And Felice was ... was AMUSED, for Lord's sake!

"Nanny is completely innocent of all duplicity ... it was all me ... all my lies." Wilkes spoke desperately. "If you blame anyone ..."

"Naoww, Sir Wilkes ..." Nanny protested. She had gone along with his lies, had pretended to be a 'Lady', and had very much enjoyed herself ... very much indeed!

"Tosh, tosh, tosh. This is my time to speak," he hushed her, patting her leg gently and leaving his hand there as he looked at the other two across the table. "I ... I was feeling the strain last year ... now I realize it was because I was already half in love with Nanny and didn't even know it."

Nanny stared at him, incredulously. "In LOVE with me? THEN?"

Felice put her hand out. "Shh ... let him speak ... oh, this is so romantic!" She leaned forward eagerly. "Go on, Wilkes!"

"I ... I made the whole thing up, having just danced with Nanny a few nights before ... at the Debutante Ball. I lied about being married ... but now I really WOULD like to marry her! In fact, I can't think of anything I'd rather do!"

Nanny could not believe her ears. He was telling his friends that he wanted to MARRY her? HER?

Felice clapped her hands. "Oh, this is JUST what we hoped would happen!"

Both Wilkes and Nanny turned uncomprehending faces towards her.

"Felice," Patrick said, putting his hand over hers, "I think you had better explain ..."

Making a face, Felice began HER confession. "We knew you had lied right from the very beginning. Well, actually, we just SUSPECTED at the beginning because, Wilkes, I'm sorry but you are a very poor liar! We KNEW shortly afterwards that you had lied about being married and to a woman named Nanny, because we met our very good friend in Paris two weeks later."

"Friend? Paris?" Wilkes asked weakly, still trying to process the fact that the Fitzgeralds had known all along that he was not married.

"Yes ... Kay Thompson."

"Wh ... KAY?" Nanny was floored by this revelation. "You know KAY?"

"Yes. She told us that you were most definitely not married ... not as far as SHE could tell, or from anything her daughter ever said to her."

"You knew we weren't married?" Wilkes asked, needing to hear it said yet again. "You KNEW? How ... remarkable."

"I just wanted you to be married so much that, when Kay agreed that Nanny would be an ideal wife for you, I put tonight into motion ... a suite for the two of you and everything!" Felice said with a naughty grin.

Nanny blushed deeply and couldn't think of a thing to say. She snatched at her water glass and buried her head in it.

"I'm sorry, Nanny," Felice apologized at the same time as her husband said, "Nanny, pay no attention to Felice! That is something that is none of her business!"

"But you know, Nanny and Wilkes," Felice added impishly, sticking her tongue out at her husband, "you COULD stay in the suite for a few nights ... for your honeymoon!"

"But we're not, not, not married!" Nanny stammered.

"That can easily be remedied! This is New York City! Anything can happen here!" Patrick informed her.

"Surely not getting married in the space of a few hours!" Wilkes protested.

"If you know the right people ... and we do ... it can be done." Felice smiled.

"Nanny?" Wilkes turned to her, a pleading look on his face. "It would solve a lot of problems, if we just married quietly tonight ..."

It was as if Nanny and Wilkes were the only two in the room. Felice and Patrick didn't move a muscle. "That's CRAZY!" Nanny gasped. "I ... I can't ..."

Wilkes' face fell. "I'm sorry, Nanny." He hung his head, then muttered, "It ... it's understandable, although highly regrettable. I suppose in a way you could say that with these lies, I was deceiving YOU as well as the Fitzgeralds."

Confusion swept over Nanny. "Deceiving me?" she asked, blankly.

"Yes." He looked a little uncomfortable. "I ... I had been wondering the best way to, well, REALLY get to know you, you know? I know we've seen each other for years, but we really haven't spoken much until this last year. And, well ... I ... I have grown very fond of you. I admire you. I ... I do believe I ... love you." His voice dropped to almost a whisper.

Nanny blinked. "LOVE? Sir Wilkes ..."

Then Wilkes flushed himself. "I know it would only solve MY problems ... and they are problems that have arisen mainly because of my own inability to tell the truth and to be ... assertive. But you know, Nanny, I DO love you ... and I DO want to marry you ..." He picked up her left hand and looked at the rings still firmly on her finger. "These rings look good on you, but I will get you any ring you want, if you'll just say you'll marry me ..."

"But ... but ... ELOISE!" Nanny was grasping at straws. Despite Wilkes' protestations of love, she wasn't sure he really DID want to marry her. How could he POSSIBLY want to tie himself to HER, for Lord's sake? He was a KNIGHT!

Now that Nanny almost looked to be weakening, Felice ignored her husband's restraining hand and leaned forward again. "Kay knows I'm pushing for you two to be married. She's in on the plan, Nanny. She picked out your ballgown for tonight as your wedding dress ... the lingerie as your trousseau!" Felice grinned. "Just say the word, and Patrick will have a minister here tonight and you two will be legally married within the hour without anyone at the gala knowing a thing!" She paused for a moment, then added, "Just THINK of the putdowns you can give Leota Daniels THEN, Nanny!"

Wilkes and Patrick looked a little puzzled, then Wilkes shrugged it off for more important matters. He held both of Nanny's hands in his, and looked pleadingly at her. "Please, Nanny? Will you marry me? Tonight?"

"Aoww, I don't know ..." Nanny continued to hesitate.

Patrick stood up and cleared his throat. "Come, Felice ... let's give them a few minutes ... for Wilkes to persuade Nanny that it's the right thing to do. Wilkes, old man, I'm going to speak to the manager. I've already got a minister on call, so he can be here in less than half an hour, with the paperwork that needs to be done. Ten minutes, Wilkes, then we'll be back."

Open-mouthed, Nanny watched as the Fitzgeralds swept out of the room. Then Wilkes, who had stood when Felice had risen, took Nanny's hands in his again and drew her up out of her chair. Her entire body prickled with awareness.

He studied her for a moment before saying softly, "You know, I simply cannot decide whether your eyes are more beautiful when they are dancing like the sun on the sea, or when they resemble bluebells bathed in morning dew ..."

Nanny couldn't move or speak. He drew her closer and kissed her, and she tasted passion and tenderness and desperation. She closed her eyes and kissed him back with all her heart. Then she drew back, pressing her hands to his shoulders, saying, "No more."

"Why not?" Wilkes' breathing was erratic. "We're alone ... please, Nan ... marry me."

"I cannot bear it, Sir Wilkes. I ... I know you started this ... THIS ..." and she waved at herself and the room in general "as a little white lie, but it has grown too, too, too much. And I fear that if we ... continue ... I can never go back to who I was before I agreed to help you. Here, take your mother's ring before I lose it ..." She tried to wrench the rings off her hand, but her fingers were slightly swollen, and her mother's engagement ring would not budge or slide over the first knuckle. His mother's wedding ring remained firmly in place on her finger.

"Nanny, don't worry about the ring ... not tonight ..." He put his hands over hers, then leaned closer and kissed her again. "With every moment, my desire for you is growing. Yes, Nanny, I do believe it IS love!"

She put her hands up to his chest to prevent him from drawing her too close. "Sir Wilkes! We - we shouldn't confuse love and passion or ... or lust."

"They are different things?" he asked, arching his eyebrows.

"They can be ..."

"But they are not mutually exclusive?"

"Of course not!"

"Good ..." and his mouth covered hers again. "I love you, Nanny, ever so much! Marry me ..." he murmured as he kissed along her jawline. "Marry me ..." and he kissed behind her ear. "Marry me ..." His kisses feathered across her cheeks.

She did not want to be forced into a marriage that she was quite, quite, QUITE certain Wilkes would regret very quickly, but she had not counted on Wilkes using her love for him against her. Hearing him say he loved HER to distraction almost broke her resolve to be firm and noble and self-sacrificing ... for a sacrifice it would be if she were to continue to refuse his offer of marriage. She was being tempted almost beyond endurance! "Sir Wilkes!" she gasped again. "Please, stop, Sir Wilkes! You're a knight ... you're much too far above my station ... much, much, much ..."

"Nonsense!" he said briskly. "You'll marry me?" He kissed her.

Nanny kissed him back, unable to help herself, then turned her head away regretfully. "I can't ... It's not right!" she insisted faintly.

"Nanny, you MUST marry me! I can't live without you! I'll ... I'll continue asking ... and begging ... and persuading ..." His words were punctuated with frantic kisses. "And ... the Fitzgeralds ... will be ... coming back in ...a few minutes ..."

"Oh my Lord!" Nanny couldn't resist him any longer. Her lips met his and she kissed him back with all the love in her heart; with all the yearning and dreaming and heartache and acceptance she was feeling.

"This is love," he murmured, softly stroking her neck and shoulders while feathering kisses on her lips. "This is passion ..." and he deepened the kiss, making her head spin. "And THIS is lust!" he finished, sliding his hands to her buttocks and holding her firmly so that she could feel his hard body pressing insistently against her softness. "But this ... this is all three ..." His mouth clamped possessively, tenderly and fiercely over hers.

Melting, Nanny found that in a heartbeat most of her doubts and fears dissolved. Under the heat of his hunger, his ravenous, driving need, all her resolutions about keeping him at arm's length evaporated. She wanted him. She NEEDED him! She flung her arms around his neck and kissed him wildly, thrilling in anticipation of what she had already decided.

O o O o O o

The speed with which their very small wedding took place left Nanny speechless. As Patrick had said, having money and connections made all the difference in the world. When it came time for Wilkes to put the ring on Nanny's finger, she remembered that she hadn't taken his mother's ring OFF ... it was still behind her own mother's which would not come off no matter how much she twisted it. Wilkes even tried himself to ease the ring off, then he gave up and simply held her hand as if he had just placed the ring there that moment.

The minister did not seem to notice, but solemnly intoned, "I now pronounce you man and wife."

As Nanny turned from Wilkes' kiss to be enfolded in Felice's tearful but laughing embrace, she could hardly believe how her life had changed so much in the space of only a few minutes. Then the older minister was gravely shaking her hand and wishing her a happy life together with her new husband, and he left the room.

"So," Patrick rubbed his hands together. "THAT'S taken care of! Now, shall we go back to the gala and dance some more? And maybe see if Leota Daniels can be goaded any further?"

"Er, perhaps we'll just leave you to it, old man," Wilkes clapped him on the back. "We have other things on our mind now, actually ... being newlyweds and all ..."

Nanny flushed brilliantly, protesting, "WILKES!"

"I barely remember the time ..." Patrick's voice was doleful, but his eyes were twinkling. "See you both in the morning. Ten o'clock sharp. Good night, Nanny. Pleasant ... dreams. You, too, Wilkes." He saluted them and putting his arm around Felice, guided her out the door.

"Do you wish to ...?" Nanny began.

"Retire to our room? Brilliant! Shall we?" Wilkes grinned.

Nanny allowed herself to be shepherded out. Wilkes took the coats when the valet handed them over, and carried them as he escorted Nanny to the elevators. On the way up, Nanny eyed him carefully, trying to figure out if he really HAD just married her, or if this was just a wild dream. His hand squeezed hers where he had pulled it through his arm, and she smiled tremulously at him when he mouthed, "I love you."

Nodding to the elevator operator who wished them a good evening when they got off at their floor, they found their room and Sir Wilkes unlocked it and ushered Nanny in. She looked around the suite as Sir Wilkes took her coat and hung it up with his. "My stars, stars, stars, this is absolutely divine," she said, a little nervous now that they were alone.

Wilkes didn't seem nervous at all. He took her in his arms and proceeded to kiss her until all her nerves had fled. Then he said gently, "Come, my love ..." and drew her into one of the bedrooms where the bed had been turned down.

In silence broken only by heavy breathing, they continued to kiss and touch and explore as they unbuttoned and discarded clothes. Nanny saw how he was looking at her, and suddenly nothing else mattered. She felt beautiful ... and she felt powerful. It was heaven. It was torment. Nanny was boneless with pleasure and rigid with anticipation as she collapsed back onto the bed, pulling him with her.

They both laughed a little when she muttered, "And I thought you wouldn't SEE this underwear!" and Wilkes carefully worked at unclasping the garters to roll down her stockings, smoothing his hands down her legs and back up to unhook the girdle.

"It's beautiful ... you're beautiful ... and I won't tell Eloise if you don't ..." he murmured.

The exquisite tension continued to build impossibly higher. In moments, Nanny felt as if she was flying, vaguely hearing cries of completion and not even realizing they were coming from her. Then they both shattered into oblivion.

"Nan?" Wilkes' voice penetrated her daze, and she dragged open her eyes to see him leaning over her, a faintly worried look on his face. "Are you all right?"

"Oh ... my ... Lord ... yes ..." Nanny managed to say.

A tremulous smile crossed his face. "So I didn't hurt you?" He eased from her and rolled onto his back, drawing her into the crook of his arm with her cheek pillowed on his shoulder. There were no words. What could they say? They both lay in the darkness, staring at nothing, listening to the even and steady beat of each other's heart. Yes, they loved each other. Was it enough? Suddenly nervous once more, Nanny wasn't sure.

Wilkes was convinced that none of this would have happened had he not lied to the Fitzgeralds. His arms tightened imperceptibly around the woman he adored. He would love her for the rest of their days. He suddenly thought of the other room in the suite registered to the two of them separately. He wondered if the bedclothes had been turned down and wondered if the maids (who knew everything and were more than likely inclined to tell everything they either knew or guessed!) would notice that it had not been occupied as had been originally expected. Perhaps they should move over there next. He smiled and nuzzled Nanny's hair.

"Hmmm?" she managed to respond, fearful that he was going to admit that he had made a horrible mistake by marrying her.

"Want to try another bed?" he whispered. "Perhaps ... with a scarf?" he added daringly. The sweetness of Nanny's love had given him increased boldness.

He clutched her worriedly as her body began to tremble almost uncontrollably ... then realized she was laughing.

O o O o O o

They met the Fitzgeralds for breakfast the next morning, Nanny looking neat and impeccably dressed in her old blue knit cardigan, royal blue skirt and a pale blue blouse, with the same Hermès scarf that she had gotten from Kay for Christmas. Wilkes, admiring her, remembered the fluidity of her body in his arms, and the heights to which her hands had driven him ... and he blushed at his thoughts.

"Good morning, Nanny! Wilkes!" Felice waved them over to the table she and Patrick were sharing. "How did you sleep last night?" Her bright eyes darted from one to the other inquisitively.

"Fine, fine, fine," Nanny murmured, a faint smile on her face. Well, she HAD had a fine sleep ... short, but fine!

"FELICE!" Patrick scolded his wife.

Felice grinned unrepentantly. Nanny returned her grin. Had it not been for the Fitzgeralds, last night might have remained an unreachable dream!

O o O o O o

Later that morning, as Nanny and Wilkes walked back into the lobby of the Plaza, Wilkes courteously touched his bowler, then said, "If you will excuse me, Nanny ... I must speak with Mr. Salomone. I'll meet you upstairs, shall I? We still need to talk to Kay and Eloise ..."

"I'll just go on up to ... my room," Nanny said faintly, noticing that both Miss Thompson and Mr. Salomone were staring at them with open mouths.

"We'll ... err ... talk upstairs," Wilkes said, holding Nanny's gaze.

She nodded. Holding her head high, Nanny walked across to the elevator. Just before Max closed the doors, Mrs. Daniels appeared out of nowhere and stepped right up to Nanny. "You may THINK you have snared him," she hissed, "but I KNOW that he couldn't possibly be happy very long married to the likes of YOU! You! Why, you're not even remotely connected to the best people! Why should such a highborn gentleman as Sir Wilkes be tied to a woman like YOU? YOU, openly spending the night with him, then sauntering home the next morning as if nothing was amiss! Outrageous! I tell you, I cannot and will not believe that he ..."

Nanny was so staggered by the venom in the words Mrs. Daniels continued to spit out in an undertone that she could say nothing in her own defence. Besides, part of her was still insisting that it was true ... Sir Wilkes WAS above her station! She barely noticed that Max, at the controls of the elevator, was frowning. At the eighth floor, he edged Mrs. Daniels out of the elevator, and pressed the button to close the door even before Mrs. Daniels was finished giving her speech.

Then he turned to Nanny, obviously having overheard what Mrs. Daniels had been saying. "Pay no heed to her, Nanny ... she's always been a shrew!" he advised her.

Shaken, Nanny tried to smile back. "Thank you, Max."

"For what it's worth, I never saw Sir Wilkes look at ANYONE the way he looks at you. I think it's real love."

"Aoww, I ..."

"And no one here pays any attention to her much, you know. She tells some pretty wild stories! You just can't believe a word of them! Mark my words ... Sir Wilkes loves you, Nanny! Personally I think you two are very well suited! So if she was right in saying that the two of you are married, I say more power to you!"

"We ... ARE married ..." Nanny murmured, nervously twisting the rings on her left hand.

Max grinned broadly. "I HOPED that was true!" He opened the door at the sixteenth floor, and Nanny got off, her legs a little wobbly. "Frederic will be up in a minute with your bags."

"Thank you, Max." Nanny stood for a moment in the hallway after the elevator had gone, more than a little worried about what to say when she saw Kay again, now that she knew Kay had been privy to all that had happened between Wilkes and the Fitzgeralds. At last she forced herself to walk over to the door and ring the buzzer.

Eloise was so excited to see her, "and you're EARLY, Nanny! Maman said you wouldn't be back for a while ... maybe even DAYS!"

Nanny's head came up and she stared at Kay who had the grace to blush a little. Eloise continued to prattle, and Nanny, who had bent down to hug the little girl, got up slowly, her thoughts racing. She wasn't sure what she was going to say to Kay ...

Before she expected it, Wilkes' knock came on the door. Eloise let him in, dancing excitedly around him, too. He was holding Nanny's overnight bag. "Frederic just brought them up," he said. "I took the liberty of bringing yours in here, but ..."

"Well, you two?" Kay suddenly said. "I think I've waited long enough! Did Felice's plan work?"

"Not completely," Nanny said after a pause when she and Wilkes looked at each other questioningly. Suddenly she wanted to make Kay suffer with curiosity just a little bit longer ... as payment for all she had been put through the last couple of days.

"What do you mean, not completely?" Kay asked.

"WHAT PLAN?" Eloise cried shrilly. "I absolutely HATE not knowing what's going on, and I want to KNOW!"

"You do know, pet ... the plan to have Mr. and Mrs. Fitzgerald think Sir Wilkes and I are married." Nanny tried to smile at her.

"Oh. That plan." Eloise nodded, satisfied.

"Why not completely?" Kay asked again, sounding almost like her daughter as she repeated herself.

"*I* think that if you want to fix things," Eloise said nonchalantly, "then you just have to get married quietly today! Then you won't HAVE to explain anything, cause everyone thinks you're married anyway!"

"Magnificent solution!" Wilkes praised the child. Then he turned to Nanny hopefully, "... don't you think?"

"Oh, HONESTLY!" Nanny shook her head.

They argued a few more minutes, then suddenly Kay said, "Nanny? Wilkes? Might I suggest that you go to Wilkes' suite and finish settling this matter? After all, Nanny, you're still on your time off!"

"But I want to hear it!" wailed Eloise.

That was the deciding point for Nanny. She agreed instantly to go with Wilkes to his suite, the two of them sharing a secret look of anticipation and delight. They would tell Kay and Eloise the truth later ... or Felice would!

"Do you really love me, Nan?" Wilkes asked a while later, as they lay together in the privacy of his suite.

"Willy, you know, know, KNOW that I do!" She spoke reproachfully even as she gazed at him in mute adoration.

"And ... I didn't force you into this because of my silly lie?"

"No, no, no ..."

"You really love me?" he repeated, needing the assurance more than he had thought he would, but still feeling deliciously sated by what he KNEW was her love washing over him.

His hands began to roam again and Nanny caught her breath. Surely he wouldn't ... he couldn't ... oh, KNICKERS! It was still the middle of the day, for Lord's sake! Nanny tried to concentrate on her words but the delight was beginning to overwhelm her once more. Panting between kisses, she managed to repeat, "Wilkes ... I love you ... but ... look at me ... I just didn't believe ... you could love ME! ... You're a knight, for Lord's sake ... you're much too far above my station ... much, much, much ... I'm BENEATH you, Willy ..."

Putting his hands under her buttocks, he suddenly rolled so that she was on top of him. She let out a little scream, and clutched at him. "There now, Nanny, you are not beneath me..." Wilkes kissed her, then added, "It is I who is beneath you, literally!"

Her eyes widened, then she smiled tentatively.

Wilkes gently ran his fingers down her cheek. "NOW you must agree that we are on an equal footing, right, my love? You are NOT beneath me!"

"Aoww, Willy ..."

The rest of her words were lost as he began to kiss her again. Yes ... perhaps she would agree ...

THE END


End file.
